The Abdominal Anatomy - Where Most of the Organs are Housed

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I was talking to a 1st year dietician yesterday, and while we were having the conversation, we slightly mentioned the abdominal organs but to my surprise, she said the abdomen only had the stomach as its organ. The discussion took place because a young man asked someone to give him a punch in his abdomen. I do not know why but he said, that he could resist pains when he stiffens the abdominal muscles. I told the lady that he was actually putting the home of his major organs at risk and she said, it was only the stomach that was at risk. Well, I can't judge her for being wrong, knowledge is acquired, and what you do not know is often way ahead of you waiting to chase and get it. A lot of us, sincerely, cannot identify where the organs in our body are located, their functions, and general morphology. We are going to look into the organs and their arrangement in the body. Today, we will be looking at the Abdominal anatomy.

https://pressbooks.ccconline.org/bio106/chapter/digestive-structures-and-functions/

First, it is good that I let you know that the Abdomen is the middle area between the Thorax and the Pelvic region of the body. The Thorax (Call it the Chest region), and the Pelvix (the Genital region), so I guess, we have a clear understanding now. The Abdomen doesn't start after the rib, rather it starts immediately after the diaphragm.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1113_The_Diaphragm


[Quick Explanation of the Diaphragm]

The Thoraco-abdominal Diaphragm is a dome shaped, muscular partition, that differentiates the Abdomen from the Thorax, located just below the lungs and the heart. It is made up of Muscles and Tendons. It's surface is convex on both sides of the body and depressed at the middle providing a cussion for the heart. The Diaphragm has two convex part, which are the right dome and left dome known as cupola. The righ cupola lies at a higherlevel towards the thorax than the Left cupola, and it is seperated by a central part of the Diaphragm, known as the central tendon.

The Diaphragm has three major openings, and several small openings which allows the diaphragm to extend from the thorax to the abdomen and from the abdomen back to the thorax. It is anchored by the ribs, spine, and xiphoid process. The large openings are the Vena Cava Opening, Esophageal Opening, and the Aortic opening. The Diaphragm has three sites of Origins/parts which are the Costal (Inner surface of the diaphragm between the 7th and 12th Rib), Sternal (The Posterior of the xiploid process), and Vertebral/Lumber part.

This is just a quich explanation, I will explain the Diaphragm properly in another post.


While still on the covering of the abdomen, is the Peritoneum. The Peritoneum is a smooth serous membrane that lines the abdominopelvic cavity, the abdominal wall, and the organs of the abdominal cavity.


[Quick Explanation of the Peritoneum]

The Peritoneum is a serous membrane made of mesothelium tissues, that streches around the abdominal cavity. The Peritoneum consist of two layers which are the Visceral Peritoneum and th Perietal peritoneum.The Parietal Peritoneum lines the internal surface of both the abdominal and the pelvic wall. Starting anterial abdominal and wraps around the lateral abdominal wall, and connects at the posterial abdominal wall. The Visceral Peritoneum lines the wall of the organs.The peritoneal cavity contains serous fluids known as the peritoneal fluid by the serous membrane.


Just below the diaphragm is the Liver. The Liver is the largest organ in the abdomen, located on the right side but extends to the left side of the abdomen.

[Quick Explanation of the Liver]

The liver like i said previously is the largest organ in the abdomen, weighing approximately 3lb – 3.5lb or 1.36Kg – 1.59Kg. The Liver can be found within the 5th to the 10th rib, but the position can change slightly due to breathing, as the diaphragm flattens pushing the liver down and relaxes bringing the liver upward. The liver has four lobes, which are right lobe, left lobe, quadrate lobe, and the caudate lobe. The biggest lobe in the liver is the right love. The liver is wrapped around the inferior Vena Cava where all the blood going into the liver goes through. The liver is attached to the front body wall by the Falciform Ligament. The falciform ligament seperates the left lobe, forming the left medial lobe and the left lateral lobe. At the anterior part of the liver (the bare area) there is the coronary ligaments, which attaches the diaphragm to the right kidney and the adrenal gland.At the anterior of the liver, the ligaments join to form the Triangular Ligament, which covers the left lobe of the liver. The liver is responsible for about 500 functions in the body.


Just below the liver towards the left is the stomach. The esophagus passes through the Diaphragm to the stomach.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juggernautco/7149722863

[Quick Explanation of the Stomach]

The Stomach, is a J-shaped small and elastic organ, responsible for storage and digestion of food. The stomach is divided into four parts, the cardia, fundus, body and pylorus. The Cardia is the opening in the stomach connected to the eosophagus. The fundus is the rounded superior part of the stomach just below the cardia to the left. The Body is the larger part of the stomach, right below the Fundus.The Pylorus is the funnel shaped area of the stomach connecting the stomach to the duodenum. The Pylorus is the into three areas which are the pyloric antrum, pyloric canal and pyloric sphincter.


Just below the stomach but still in the gastrointestinal tract do we find the Greater Omentum, which is a connective tissue sheet hanging down from the curvature of the stomach, and covering the gastrointestinal tract. It helps to prevent inflammations as well as prevent the spread of inflammation from the GIT to other part organs. The GIT takes the larger part of the abdominal cavity. Right at the back of the Stomach is the Pancreas.

[Quick Explanation of the Pancreas]

The Pancreas connected to the Duodenum and the Spleen. At the head of the pancreas is the Uncinate process. The head lies just at the curve of the duodenum. The tail is connected to the Spleen. The Splenic artery runs along the superior edge of the pancreas to the spleen. Other arteries around the pancreas are the pancreaticoduodenal artery, Splenic vein, Portal vein, Inferior Mesenteric vein,and Superior mesenteric vein. The pancreas is made up to glands, the Endocrine gland and the Endocrine gland. The Pancreas secretes the pancreatic juice which aids digestion, as well as hormones (produce by the endocrine cells). The Pancreas reglates blood-sugar (glucagon and insulin)


The Spleen is at the tail of the Pancreas, which is at the lateral, left side of the stomach. It is responsible for storing red blood cells, platelet, and other part of the immune systems are stored.

[Quick Explanation of the Spleen]

The purple shaped organ is 4 inches long, and the largest organ in the lymphatic system. The Spleen is covered with visceral peritoneum except for the hilum of the spleen where the Splenic artery and splenic vain passes. The Spleen is wrapped with a fibroelastic capsule that allows it to increase its size and reduce it when necessary. The Speen has three Ligaments attached to it, which are the Gastrosplenic ligament contains the left gastroomental arteries and veins (which connect the greater curvature of the stomach to the hilum), The splenorenal ligament (which connects the hilum with the left kidney through the splenic artery and vein), and the phrenicocolic ligament which originates from the colon, in which the spleen sits on.


Below the stomach is the Transverse Colon, which is mobile, going up and down due to the mesentery. The transverse Colon is part of the Large Intestine. While the transverse colon can move around, the Ascending Colon (at the right iliac fossa of the abdomen) and Descending Colon (the left iliac fossa of the abdomen) are fixed.

[Quick Explanation of the Large Intestine]

Not all parts of the large intestine are below the stomach. Just the Transverse colon is below the stomach. The large intestine comprises the Ascending colon, Transverse Colon, Descending Colon, and sigmoid. The Large Intestine begins with the Caecum and ends at the Rectum. The large intestine is about 1.5 meters long. At the top, the Transverse Colon runs towards the colic flexture of the Spleen. The Ascending colon which is found on the right side of the abdominal cavity moves towards the right colic flexture which is at the bottom side of the liver. The Descending Colon which is found on the left side of the abdomen, begin at the left colic flexture, to the sigmoid colon. The sigmoid colon is found immediately after the descending colon, and it attaches to the rectum.

The major task of the Large intestine is to absorb water from the from feces, storage as well as transporting of feces. It also absorb electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and secretes the potassium into the lumen.


Just below the Trasverse Colon is the Small Intestine, which is the longest part of the digestive system extensing from the stomach to the large intestine. The Small intestine consists of three parts whichare the duodenum, jejunum and ileum. You should know that the function of the small intestine is to absorb food to completely digest them, and absorb nutrients.


[Quick Explanation of the Small Intestine]

The Deodenum is the first part of the small intestine from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach to the duodenojejunal flexure. The Duodenum is made up of four parts which are the Superior, Descending, Horizontal, and Ascending.

*The Jejunum which is found in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen, begins at the duodenojejunal flexure, to the ileum.*

The Ileum which is the longest part of the small intestine, which is found at the lower right quadrant of the abdomen is the last part of the small intestine. The ileum extends to the Ileac Orifice where it ends and the Cecum of the Large intestine begins.


At the posterior abdominal wall is the Kidney, whose function is to regulate blood homeostasis, blood pressure, homone production, and elimination metabolic waste through urine. (I'll discuss the kidney in another post) Just above the kidney is the Adrenal gland which produces adrenaline. other tissues, muscles and veins in the abdomen includes the quadratus lumborum, the Testicular artery and vein, iliac arteries and veins.

Conclusion

You will be so shocked at how many organs your abdomen carries, compared to the thoraxic part of your body. The human body is a biological machine that should be properly taken care of. Exposing the body to harm could endanger the organs of the body.



Reference


Images

https://pressbooks.ccconline.org/bio106/chapter/digestive-structures-and-functions/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1113_The_Diaphragm

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Liver_Diagram

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juggernautco/7149722863

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1820_The_Pancreas

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2420_Large_Intestine

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2417_Small_IntestineN



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Great article!

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Thanks a lot.. I hope you had a great time reading?

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(Edited)

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Really?😂 Someone said the stomach is the only organ in the abdomen😂

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You will be so surprised at what a lot of people believe their body is made of.

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Honestly I'll 😂 I'm sure some people think the womb is the stomach too

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I would run away from a dietician that doesnt know about organs
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